‘To the sound of resounding boo’s Adam walked towards the clubhouse’

With Hyde Heath hosting the Pelicans an eager team assembled on the Heath and awaited the opposition, and waited, and waited, with a pitch inspection undertaken and the fact that there were no white lines to be seen it became obvious there was a problem, on returning to the Meadow and finding the opposition, it was obvious.

A quick mow and clubhouse opening then ensued we were ready to go and batting first. In the meantime, some quick thinking from Has ensured tea was sorted, a plethora of chicken shawarma wraps, samosa’s and chips to be delivered by Mother Has was inspirational and above and beyond the call of duty from Mother Has.

Opening for the Pelicans as ever Raheel but this time alongside debutant Greg Bailey, another Bailey yes but not ‘another’ Bailey.

This new opening partnership started off steadily with a few singles and two’s no doubt playing themselves in, and then in true Bailey fashion Greg went for the fours, three in a row followed by being bowled for 18, maybe he is a Bailey after all. It was a nice knock and no doubt more runs will come as Greg understands if that is possible the variability of the wicket.

Raheel meanwhile did what Raheel does, kept on hitting the ball in a somewhat lugubrious style, although now he was joined by mini Khan himself Yusuf.

Now it is fair to say that in batting the apple indeed fell a long way from the tree, possibly up in Hyde Heath as Yusuf opened with a four and then a six, he carried on in this vein until on 21 he was bowled an absolute peach, no complaints.

Raheel now joined by Mini Better Has Ajmal continued with his shots which comprised of a single or a four, basically little running and in no time earnt the applause of the vast crowd as he passed his 50.

Ajmal too dispensing with running also soon got into his stride and hit four’s, sixes or singles and similarly was soon raising his bat in a somewhat half-mast manner to the appreciative crowd.

This pair in what seemed like no time had put on a partnership of 123 to take the score onto 196 when Raheel was finally out LBW pinged with fingers faster than a Mamba by Greg.

With Raheel out for a magnificent 66, another Bailey went out to the wicket, went for a mighty six and was bowled, frankly it could have been one of many Baileys but it was non other than James, he was replaced by another Bailey, this time Josh.

Unfortunately, the partnership with Ajmal was not long lasting as Better Has was replaced by Not so good Has, though now before scoring a brilliant 73. Again, another great innings.

With Josh and Has at the wicket the action was as expected fours and the odd single but these two cavaliers by the end of the innings had taken the score onto 244 of 35 overs with Josh not out 20 and Has 13.

And so, to tea……. As mentioned, the order had been put in and Mother Has very kindly delivered a truly magnificent feast, notwithstanding the short notice there were 22 very happy players. A very big thank you.

With 244 to defend the usual pairing of Toobes and Josh started the attack, with the usual quota of leg side balls from Toobes it was due to a massive amount of surprise that the Heath opener missed the straight one and was bowled, two further overs followed and Toobes was removed from the attack with figures of 5 overs 1 for 14. Josh meanwhile bowling very nicely indeed had soon gone through his six overs and recorded figures of 2 for 19, the Heath were wobbling on 3 for 30 after 10 overs.

With Josh and Toobes out of the attack the new force to be reckoned with was JG and Has, a fine and miserly four overs from JG giving away only 15 runs was cut short as the chicken shawarma sat a bit too heavily, Has meanwhile carried on.

It is fair to say that Has’s first couple of overs were variable again possibly something to do with the amount of tea eaten but after that he got into a rhythm and after his third over took his first wicket, removing the opener who was on 25 with a great ball that removed his bails. This seemed to bring back some muscle memory as Has now stopped bowling like Toobes and the wickets started to fall. The Heath number 5 batsman was next who on 30 went for a big hit and skied it up, very high. Running towards the hedge Greg Bailey took the catch over his shoulders, a brilliant hold.

During all this excitement Shane Nico had commenced his spell from the Railway End, basking in his leathering from the debutant 6 hitting cricketer Nico was out for blood and come the fourth over he got it the number 9 batsman bowled by an off cutting, low skimming, googly or something like that. Unfortunately, this ended up being the high point of Nico’s spell as a few other batsmen seemed to also like Nico’s bowling.

Meanwhile Has with two wickets to his name and starting what had been told would be his final over then pulled two wickets out of the bag in his 6th over. Adam who had been on standby to finish the innings off with Nico was stood down for one last Has over to get a 5 for.

Now in-between all this excitement the Heath had sent out their secret weapon, a batsman barely big enough to see over the wickets and barely 10 years old.

Has meanwhile going for the 5 unfortunately failed but 7 overs 4 for 31 were pretty decent figures.

With Adam and Nico now taking it to the Heath tail end things did not look pretty, Nico finished his 7 over spell with 1 for 35 but Adam who had been held back now had the small child to aim at, surely, he wouldn’t crush the hopes and dreams of a small child, possibly inflicting some mental scarring that would resurface in years to come.

Let’s just say he did. So to a chorus of boos from his own team mates Adam left the field for the sanctuary of the clubhouse and further mockery…..unbelievable.

Anyway a great game, very funny and great oppo.

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Reports are intended to convey an entertaining picture of the day’s play. No disrespect is meant, but if on occasion we misjudge matters, please take it in the friendly and humorous spirit in which it is intended.